Tottenham fights back to beat Wolves 3-1

Tottenham fights back to beat Wolves 3-1

Published Sep. 18, 2010 6:11 p.m. ET

Tottenham staged a late fightback to beat Wolverhampton 3-1 and secure its first home win of the Premier League season on Saturday.

Rafael van der Vaart sparked the turnaround from the penalty spot in the 75th minute, canceling out Steven Fletcher's goal on the stroke of halftime.

The Wolves defense crumbled as Roman Pavlyuchenko and Alan Hutton also beat American goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann in the closing minutes.

Spurs manager Harry Redknapp had been wary about his team experiencing a Champions League hangover four days after drawing with Werder Bremen, having lost to Wigan following their previous European fixture.

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It took Spurs 24 minutes to force a save from Hahnemann, who denied Gareth Bale before Michael Mancienne and Stephen Ward threw themselves in front of Robbie Keane's follow-up.

Hahnemann was called into action again six minutes later after the ball sat up perfectly for Van der Vaart to smash a volley, and then the keeper got his fingertips to Peter Crouch's 33rd-minute header.

Crouch was winning almost everything in the air but it was his strike partner, Keane, who had the best headed chance of the half, which he directed wide from eight yards.

Wolves snatched the lead when the recalled Fletcher slammed in Kevin Foley's low cross from close range.

Jermaine Jenas nearly weaved his way through the entire Wolves defense early in the second half, and Keane almost produced a spectacular equaliser, his scissors-kick from another Bale cross narrowly missing the target.

Spurs began to labor before Ward intervened with 15 minutes remaining, scything down Hutton just inside the penalty area. Van der Vaart sent Hahnemann the wrong way from the spot for his first Tottenham goal.

Redknapp sent on Aaron Lennon for Van der Vaart, and the substitution proved inspired as the winger helped set up Spurs' second goal moments later. Lennon's cross was partially cleared but played back into Huddlestone, whose shot was blocked straight to Pavyluchenko for the simplest of finishes.

Pavyluchenko ripped off his shirt and ran to the jubilant Spurs fans to celebrate, earning himself a booking, while Hahnemann was also cautioned for dissent.

Wolves sent on Marcus Bent for Mancienne but there was worse to come for the visitors in stoppage time, as a mix-up between Stearman and Hahnemann allowed Hutton to nip in and bundle the ball home.

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